The Cabinet

Chapter Summary

• The Cabinet is a body of senior government ministers, led by the Prime Minister, which is responsible for making key decisions affecting the running of the country.
• All new laws proposed by the Cabinet must be approved by both Houses of Parliament.
• The Cabinet meetings are private and all decisions made by the Cabinet will be supported by all the Cabinet members.

Introduction

Who is in the Cabinet?

The Cabinet is made up of 17 senior ministers led by the Prime Minister. The entire ministry includes about 30 members and Senators, however only 17 of these are chosen by the Prime Minister to be in the Cabinet. The other members are called junior ministers or backbenchers, because they sit at the back of the Parliament.

Generally, each minister in the Cabinet is responsible for a particular area of public life. These are called portfolios. There will be a Minister for Defence, who is responsible for looking after the nation's armed forces. This minister will report to the Cabinet on the area of responsibility (portfolio). Backbenchers do not have their own portfolio.

Although the Cabinet is not mentioned in the Constitution, it exists because of the conventions and traditions of democracy.

What does the Cabinet do?

The Cabinet comes together to discuss and decide on policies and programmess to be presented to Parliament, to be passed as laws. The role of the Cabinet is to generate new laws and is therefore known as the engine room of government.

In Cabinet meetings, ministers introduce proposals for new laws, with regard to the area of their responsibility (for example Defence). The Cabinet discusses proposals for new laws and suggests to the minister whether a bill should proceed or further changes should be made. Sometimes the Cabinet sets up a subcommittee of ministers to examine an issue in greater detail. The Cabinet spends a lot of time discussing current issues and how they can be solved.

The Cabinet is responsible to Parliament for the running of the government. The members of Parliament (usually the Opposition) ask questions of the ministers and the government during Question Time, to make sure that they are performing their duties properly.

Cabinet meetings

Only the Cabinet ministers attend the Cabinet meetings unless there is a specific matter that requires the presence of junior ministers. Meetings are held in private and discussions are secret. Records of the Cabinet meetings are only be shown to the public after 30 years.

Once Cabinet has decided upon an issue, the rest of the government ministers in the Cabinet must agree with the decision. Decisions of the Cabinet will be publicly supported by all the Cabinet members, even if some members disagree with the decision.